This invention relates to a process for the production of carbon monoxide in a water-cooled generator which has the form of a truncated cone in longitudinal section. The generator is filled with carbon and by gasification of carbon with a mixture of oxygen and carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide is produced.
The production of carbon monoxide from coal and oxygen has long been known and is practiced on a large industrial scale. In most cases truncated, cone-shaped generators are used having a volume of, for example, 4 m.sup.3 which are fed with coke from above through a gate and subjected to oxygen through one or more water-cooled nozzles at the bottom of the generator. If coke is present in excess, most of the carbon monoxide is formed in a combustion zone, which is at a temperature above 1800.degree. C., surrounding the stream of oxygen emerging from the nozzles at high velocity. The carbon monoxide is withdrawn at the top of the generator. The heat of reaction is in most cases removed by cooling water in the cooling jacket surrounding the generator. Steam generation is also possible, as described in DE-OS No. 1,950,517.
The process described above has the disadvantage, firstly, that the slag left from combustion of the coke accumulates at the bottom of the generator. This may considerably impair the efficiency of the nozzle(s) also located at the bottom. Damage by burning causes water to enter the generator and hydrogen appears in the production gas causing subsequent processing to be very difficult or even dangerous. In any case, continuous removal of slag is not possible.
Another disadvantage is that the volumetric output of a conventional generator is limited by heat generation as a result of the highly exothermic reaction of carbon with oxygen. Thus, for example, in a generator having a volume of 4 m.sup.3 supplied with pure oxygen, the maximum carbon monoxide production achieved is 140 m.sup.3 /h, which correspnds to a volumetric output of 35 m.sup.3 of CO/h.times.m.sup.3 of generator volume. An improvement in the heat transfer may be achieved by the introduction of a truncated cone-shaped hollow core which may be cooled, as described in DE-OS No. 2,046,172. Considerably more effective is the addition of carbon dioxide to the oxygen fed into the generator since the reaction between carbon dioxide and carbon is highly endothermic. The output of a generator of 4 m.sup.3 capacity may in this way be increased to a volumetric output of 60 m.sup.3 CO/h.times.m.sup.3 generator volume. The mixed gas used in this case may have an O.sub.2 /CO.sub.2 ratio of 2:1. With this method, however, the output is still limited by the rate at which heat may be removed in the region of the nozzle.